When is the End of the Age?
The disciples asked, “What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). What did they mean by the end of the age?
Jesus said, “The gospel would be preached all over the world then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). What end did he have in mind? Did he mean the end of the temple, or the end of the age, or both? Was Jesus answering the disciples’ question? It will help if we examine the original meaning of their words:
The disciples: “When is the end (sunteleia) of the age?”
Jesus: “Then the end (telos) will come.”
When discussing the end of the age in verse 3, the disciples used a big word that means completion or consummation of a plan. God has a plan, and it comes to completion at the end or consummation of the age. In contrast, when discussing the fall of Jerusalem in verse 14, Jesus used a smaller word that simply means an ending or conclusion.
Two words for two types of ending and the difference is a plan. If I crash my car, that’s the telos end of my car. But if I did it as part of a twisted plan to fake my own death, collect the insurance, and move to Bermuda, that’s a sunteleia ending. See the difference? In both cases the car came to an end, but the presence of a plan determines what sort of ending it was.
In Matthew 24:3 the disciples asked about the grand plan kind of ending, while in verse 14 Jesus spoke about an ordinary kind of ending. (He’ll get to the grand plan later in Matthew 24.) His choice of words reveals that the end of Jerusalem has nothing to do with the end of age they were asking about.
What is the end of the age?
Whenever you read about the end of something in the New Testament, it helps to know which sort of ending is being described. Is it the everyday type of ending (telos) or is it a God-wrought consummation (sunteleia) of a plan? Here are a few examples:
So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end (sunteleia) of the age … So it will be at the end (sunteleia) of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, (Matthew 13:40, 49)
In the parable of the tares and wheat, Jesus referred to the harvest at the end of the age using the big word that describes the consummation of a plan. Jesus was talking about the ending, or Judgment Day when the tares and wheat will be gathered and separated.
Lo, I am with you always, even to the end (sunteleia) of the age. (Matthew 28:20)
Jesus promised the disciples that he would never leave them. He would be with them, and us, to the utter end.
In these examples, the age in question is the new covenant age, also known as the age of grace or the age of the church or the last days. When Christ returns this age will end, the wheat and tares will be gathered, and the wicked will be separated from the righteous. But the new covenant age is not the only age mentioned in the Bible.
Now once at the consummation (sunteleia) of the ages he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26)
This verse is pointing back to the cross rather than forward to the Second Coming. It describes the cross as the end or consummation of an age. Paul is talking about the age of the old law-keeping covenant, which came to a glorious culmination at the cross.
Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends (telos) of the ages have come. (1 Corinthians 10:11)
This verse is the same but different. It’s similar because Paul is again talking about the end of an age, but it’s a different kind of ending. It’s an ordinary telos ending.
Paul is not talking about the consummation of the old covenant (which had already happened), nor is he talking about the consummation of the new covenant (which was far in the future). He is talking about the end of the temple-based worship. “Moses is fizzing out because Christ has come.” For more on this, see “When did the Old Covenant end?”
When is the end of the age?
As we have seen from scripture, there is more than one age and more than one ending. There was the age of law or the era of the old covenant, which came to a conclusion at Calvary, and there is the present age of grace or the era of the new covenant, which will reach its climax when Christ returns.
When the disciples asked, “When is the end of the age?” they meant, “When will you reveal yourself in glory and power?” They were asking about the final coming of the Lord. When is that going to happen?
We will look at Jesus response that question in our next post, “The Day and the Hour”.
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Extracted from chapter 35 of Paul Ellis’ new book AD70 and the End of the World.
Escape to Reality 
My Bible says “end of the world” not “end of the age”. So are you also saying that the ” end of the world” in the KJV doesn’t always mean “end of the world”?
The New Testament was largely written in Greek and the word for age is aiōn, similar to our eon. Since the epistle-writers speak of different ages using the same word each time, it is inaccurate at both a linguistic and contextual level to translate the word as world. Several ages have come to an end – the age of the old covenant for instance – but the world is still here.
Where is the like button when one needs it. 🙂 Anyway, LIKE!! Very much so.
Nope, its all done. Grace and peace!!! Jesuswon!
Great explanation, thank you.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom. It’s been giving me great help in truly understanding the Bible.
WOW, clearly explained, thanks Paul!
Thank you for making things so clear Paul. I have great appreciation for the truth revealed in these in-depth studies. God bless you for the time and effort that you put in to help our understanding better.
And interesting article, I think i see a glimmer of something the Lord may have shown me recently.
After having been grossly misrepresented by a group of “inclusionists” (it turns out that if I do not submit to their teaching I MUST be a proponent of “angry God theology”, no ifs, no buts) I started seeking greater understanding of what the hell (no pun intended) is going on in western Christianity.
I mean, these guys really got under my skin and started troubling my faith, it even seems to have ended a close friendship.
After much prayer I feel that I have the beginning of what I hope is revelation from the Holy Spirit. I just got the point where I realized some of these issues can not be solved by reading everything men have written since Athanasius to the present. There are also only so many hour long youtube videos by trendy preaches that use an odd turn of phrase that one can stand before the mind becomes something resembling scrambled eggs.
So what is the answer? Well I think it goes something like this. We humans have a problem with our own autonomy that seems to be rooted in the tree of knowledge. We tend to weigh up issues in two dimensions. This is perhaps driven by the insecurity from original sin, the “I need to know before I can act” form of autonomy that keeps us firmly in the drivers seat despite any righteous pretensions. When theology comes along, this thinking then demands that we take a firm position on a divine paradox. How do we get around this? ironically, I think it is an act of the will (inclusionists seem to hate this) that causes us to lay down our agenda which brings in another dimension – the Spirit of God which provides security on an issue that challenges our limited intellectual capacity.
It really seemed to deepen my faith somehow, I hope I am not just crazy.
Well put, Daniel. Humanism – even theistic humanism – glorifies the intellect and the result is scrambled brains.
Thanks for sharing.
The Bible says that the ‘end of the ages’ met the ‘fulfillment of time’ at the Cross, in the moment of Christ’s death. It means simply that we are not in an age right now. There are no ages left. They’re used up. They’re gone. It also means that, from God’s point of view, we moved from time as we know it, to eternity. While the believer continues to look at his watch, we aren’t abiding in that dimension anymore. We were clothed in immortality and instantly moved from the incessant ‘ticking of the clock’ to ‘eternal life’! Of course, if we insist on seeing everything from our own point of view, we’ll never come to know the truth of it.
Paul
I too have come out of the millennial dispensational denominations. I want to thank you first of all for your book 70AD and clearing up Matt 24. But I wonder if you can help me further understand how to interpret Rev 20?
If John was inspired by the holy spirit this book, it is still way out there for me. At times I have thought John was on a bad acid trip (God forgive me) other time I was convince it should not be in the cannon.(forgive me for that) What is up with verses like this
Rev 20:7
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Some have said thousand year is figurative for a long time and I believe that now too. But when is this period of time? Some have said it is the time since the Body of Christ, the CHURCH began. But I don’t know. Why is he getting parole and when?
Can you help shed some light on Rev 20? Freed
Jesus when referring to the end of the age is talking about Mosiac law. In AD 70 at the destruction of the temple, it was the end of animal sacrifice for the atonement of sin. Jesus’s eternal sacrifice is the new covenant for the remission of sins. That’s what is being discussed in the parable of vfc the wineskins. God doesnt dwell in temples made with hands, He lives inside us believers. Whwn Jesus said there are some standing here will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming into His kingdom, He is referring to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. The end of the age, is the absolution of the need for the temple be made God provided an eternal sacrifice for us. The church now spread from Israel into the gentiles.
Hi Matt, the problem with saying the old law-keeping covenant lasted until AD70 is that Jews to this day still observe the law. True, animal sacrifices continued, but they never did anything to take away sins before or after the cross. God gave us a dramatic conclusion to the old covenant when he tore temple curtain. As for the disciples not tasting death, you can read my thoughts here. Thanks for the comment.